[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [弘明集](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102) › 9.14 # 弘明集 9.14 弘明集 9.14 - **Language:** Classical Chinese ### [9.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9.14) 難曰。今論形神合體則應有不離之證。而直云神即形形即神。形之與神不得相異。此辯而無徵有乖篤喻矣。子今據夢以驗形神不得共體。當人寢時其形是無知之物。而有見焉。此神遊之所接也。神不孤立必憑形器。猶人不露處須有居室。但形器是穢闇之質。居室是蔽塞之地。神反形內則其識微惛惛。故以見為夢。人歸室中則其神暫壅壅。故以明為昧。夫人或夢上騰玄虛遠適萬里。若非神行便是形往耶。形既不往神又不離。復焉得如此。若謂是想所見者。及其安寐身似僵木氣。若寒灰呼之不聞。撫之無覺即云神與形均則是表裏俱勌。既不外接聲音。寧能內興思想。此即形靜神馳斷可知矣。又疑凡所夢者。或反中詭遇（趙簡子。夢童子裸歌可吳入鄒。晉小臣夢負公登天而負公出諸廁是也）或理所不容（呂齮。夢射月中之。吳后。夢腸出繞閶門之類是也）或先覺未兆（呂姜夢天。名其子曰虞。曹人夢眾君子謀欲士曹之類是）或假借象類（蔡茂禾失為秩。王濬夢三刀為州之類是也）或即事所無（胡人夢舟。越人夢騎之類是也）或乍驗乍否（殷宗夢得傳說。漢文夢獲鄧通驗也。否事眾多不復具載也）此皆神化茫眇幽明不。測易以約通難用理。檢不許以神遊必宜求諸形。內恐塊爾潛靈外絕覲。覿雖復扶以六夢濟以想因。理亦不得然也。 > Objection: Now, if you discuss corporeal form and spirit having a unified essence, there should be proof of their non-separation. Yet you merely state that the spirit is the corporeal form, the corporeal form is the spirit, and that corporeal form and spirit cannot differ from each other. This is debate without evidence, departing from reliable analogy. Relying on dreams, I will now demonstrate that corporeal form and spirit cannot share a single essence. When a person sleeps, their corporeal form is a non-sentient thing, yet experiences are perceived: this is what the wandering spirit encounters. The spirit does not stand alone; it must rely on the vessel of corporeal form, just as a person cannot dwell in the open and must have a house. But the vessel of corporeal form is an impure, dark substance, and the house is an enclosed, obstructive place. When the spirit turns back inside the corporeal form, its consciousness becomes faint and muddled; therefore it takes its perceptions to be dreams. When a person returns inside a house, their spirit is temporarily obstructed; therefore it takes brightness to be obscurity. Indeed, people sometimes dream of soaring into the void or traveling ten thousand li far away. If this is not the journey of the spirit, could it be that the corporeal form went? Since the corporeal form did not go, and if the spirit moreover did not depart, how could such things occur? If you say these are visions generated by thought: when someone is fast asleep, their body is like rigid wood and their breath like cold ash; calling them, they do not hear; stroking them, they do not feel. If you say that the spirit and the corporeal form are equal, then both inside and outside would be weary together. Since \[the body\] does not receive sounds and sights from without, how could thoughts arise from within? From this, it can be decisively known that the corporeal form is at rest while the spirit gallops. Furthermore, consider all manner of dreams: some contradict the norm with strange encounters (such as Zhao Jianzi dreaming of a boy singing naked, 'Ke Wu ru Zou', or the minor officer of Jin dreaming of carrying the duke up to heaven and carrying the duke out of the latrine); some are impossible according to reason (such as Lü Yi dreaming of shooting the moon and hitting it, or the Queen of Wu dreaming of her intestines coming out and wrapping around the Changmen gate); some foretell what has not yet manifested (such as Lü Jiang dreaming of heaven naming her son Yu, or the people of Cao dreaming of gentlemen scheming to appoint Cao); some borrow analogous figures (such as Cai Mao dreaming of losing grain, signifying 'rank' (zhi), or Wang Jun dreaming of three knives, signifying 'province' (zhou)); some are about things non-existent in reality (such as a northern barbarian dreaming of a boat, or a Yue native dreaming of riding a horse); some are sometimes verified and sometimes not (the Yin ancestor dreaming of obtaining Fu Yue, and Han Emperor Wen dreaming of acquiring Deng Tong were verified; unverified instances are manifold and not recorded in full). These are all subtle transformations of the spirit, unfathomable in the dark and the bright, easily communicated by intuitive grasp but hard to examine by discursive reasoning. If you do not grant that the spirit wanders, and insist on seeking it inside the corporeal form, I fear that while this lumpish \[body\] conceals the soul within, it is entirely cut off from sights and meetings without. Even if you assist your case with the six types of dreams and supplement it with conditions of mental thoughts, rationally it still cannot be so. > — English (machine translation) (machine translation) - [Previous: 9.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9.13) - [Next: 9.15](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9.15) - [Up: 9](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102~en-mt.9.14) — English, machine translation --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9.14](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2102.9.14) · Pramāṇa